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Joselyn Kafui Nyadzi
2 minutes read
The Health Services Workers’ Union (HSWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called on the government to address low wages in the health sector, saying about 15,000 workers in the public health sector earn an average of GH¢600 a month.
The union said some health workers engaged as casual staff and paid from internally generated funds earn as little as GH¢500 or less per month.
The General Secretary of the HSWU, Franklin Owusu Ansah, who made the call at a press conference in Accra last Monday, said the situation was affecting the welfare of workers and their pensions.
“Some of them, in today’s Ghana, are paid as low as GH¢500 or below per month.
This is a very serious situation that we have engaged the government about to ensure that they mechanise all those casual staff to enable them to also enjoy decent wages,” he said.
The press conference in Accra was part of activities to mark the HSWU’s Union Week celebration.
Formed about 82 years ago in 1944, HSWU began as a health workers’ union.
The union has over the years represented health workers, promoted collective bargaining and social dialogue, and advocated better conditions of service.
Pensions
Mr Owusu Ansah said low wages also had implications for the pensions of workers, since benefits were linked to salaries.
“If you have a low salary, definitely your pension will be low.
And this is what is accounting for the low pension that we have in Ghana,” he said.
The General Secretary of the HSWU said workers in the private sector were also facing low remuneration, with some earning between GH¢500 and GH¢1,000 a month.
He, therefore, called for collaboration among organised labour, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to push for living wages for health workers.
Special appeal
Mr Owusu Ansah also appealed to the government and other stakeholders to support a health worker who sustained serious injuries in an accident in the line of duty.
He said the victim, who works at the Eastern
